The invention relates generally an athletic helmet formed from a soft, shock absorbent foam. Variations of the helmet can be used for sports such as football, hockey, soccer, and bicycling Specifically, the sport helmet of the present invention includes a molded piece of soft foam and alternatively includes metal or plastic inserts.
Athletic head protection is necessary for prevention of head injuries in many sports. Contact sports such as football and hockey require the use of head protection. Other sports such as soccer may soon require head protection due to the significant potential of head injuries occurring from xe2x80x9cheadingxe2x80x9d the ball and contact with other players.
The current football helmet technology teaches the use of a hard plastic shell with several interior foam inserts and air bladders for padding the head of the user wearing the helmet. The problem with the hard shell helmet is that the helmet itself can cause injury. When the helmet contacts or xe2x80x9chitsxe2x80x9d an unprotected body part such as an arm, leg, chest or hand, the contacted body part can sustain injuries such as bruises or broken bones within.
A softer helmet would certainly reduce these injuries. Contact with a soft object is much less intrusive than contact with a hard object. A plastic and foam helmet that attempts to address this need is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,923 to Katz. However, Katz ""923 fails to provide protection against glancing hits by a ball or another helmet. Katz ""923 also includes internal reinforcing elements within the foam portions of the helmet. Such reinforcing elements are expensive to manufacture. A soft helmet is needed that does not require such reinforcing elements to cushion a user.
Another foam helmet is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,815 to Andujar. It teaches the attachment of pad members to the exterior of a base member made of a resilient foam. Andujar ""815, though providing some protection against glancing blows, still has failings. The pad members of Andujar ""815 extend from the surface of the helmet and are undesirable in that they can be peeled away under normal use and impacts. Additionally, Andujar ""815 fails to provide adequate protection to the user against more severe impacts as required for bicycle helmets, contact sports such as football and hockey, and desirable for soccer. A foam helmet is needed that provides approximately the same level of impact protection as conventional hard shell helmets, and yet provides the user with the ability to head soccer balls or deflect glancing hits to the helmet.
The present invention provides a soft, shock absorbent sport helmet. The sport helmet has a shell formed of a single, homogeneous component. The shell is formed by molding a soft foam material into the desired shape, preferably by the process of injection molding. The soft foam of the shell has a pliable form. The soft foam resists against an impact into the shell by compressing with the impact and then returning to the shell""s original shape. The shell also includes a cranial support. The cranial support is attached to an interior surface of the shell. Alternatively, the cranial support is an element of the single, homogenous shell. The cranial support, which is preferably a plurality of cranial supports, contacts the head of a user to support the shell.
In a preferred alternative embodiment of the present invention, the shell includes an insert plate molded onto and exposed on an exterior surface of the shell. The insert plate is formed from a substantially rigid material and is ideal for heading a soccer ball or deflecting impacts with other helmets, as often occurs in football. The insert plate provides the advantage of protection against glancing hits by a ball or another helmet. Additionally, the insert plate does not protrude from the smooth exterior surface of the shell, thereby substantially eliminating the possibility of the pads ripping off the helmet on a glancing impact.
The helmet of the present invention does not require reinforcing elements to cushion a user. The foam of the helmet is dense enough to hold together without the need for reinforcing elements. With the aid of the cranial supports, the helmet provides approximately the same level of impact protection as conventional hard shell helmets. However, the supporting infrastructure is absent.
In an alternative embodiment of the helmet of the present invention, a holding plate is molded within the shell and partially exposed on an exterior surface of the shell. The holding plate can receive a helmet attachment, such as a chin strap, face mask or eye shield.
The present invention provides the advantage of improved head protection and a reduction of injuries that are caused from hard shell helmets. The invention also provides the advantage of a helmet that can rebound a ball from its frontal area, thereby allowing a substantially safe header by the user. The invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.